Citadel Security
by RiotDragon
Summary: Leon is a C-Sec officer with the unique ability to see the details in situations that others may miss. Follow him through the Citadel Wards as he fights crime, solves mysteries, and tries with all his might to get a good nights sleep. This is a new approach to story writing for me, so it's bound to be choppy until I fine tune it. Please R&R.
1. Elementary

OoO( 1 )OoO

The Citadel. It was the center of nearly all known sentient life in the galaxy. It was the nerve center for the political flow of any being wanting to be a part of the society that blanketed the part of the galaxy known as Council Space. To many, the Citadel was more than just a floating space station, its arm spread wide like the petals of an enormous cosmo flower. To many, the galaxy was a living breathing thing, and if there were a brain for such a creature, it was the Citadel.

The station was always a hive of life. Beings from dozens of races across the galaxy called it their home. The Council, four individuals selected by their own race to be the head of their order, were at the zenith of creation on the station. It was a glowing tower built upon the inner ring of the massive structure, and it stood as a beacon of hope for a civilized galaxy. These four individuals were in charge of bringing peace and clarity to a galaxy otherwise full of chaos and indecision.

This was the Citadel, the brain, the heart, and the center of galactic life.

OoOoO

As life continued on the Citadel as it was prone to doing, the night cycle of the station ended. The light of the artificial dawn began the brighten and shine on the citizens of the galaxy. A human, the newest race to the galactic society, was sitting on a bed that no longer seemed to comfort him. He sat in nothing but his boxers, his white hair draped around his shoulders as he lifted a cigarette to his mouth and took a deep drag from it.

He exhaled the smoke, letting the cloud billow into the room as he sat silently thinking to himself. It was something he did quite often when sleep escaped him. Insomnia was the unfortunate condition with which he found himself recently, unable to sleep, unable to feel even the slightest pull to his pillow. But that didn't stop his mind from being worn down. It didn't stop his body from aching. And overall, it didn't help him think straight in the slightest, making it harder for him to do his job these days.

He slammed the butt down into the ashtray on the table next to his bed, then stood, the muscles in his body flexing as he stretched the tiredness out of them. Then, he walked to the closet to get dressed.

In an hour, he was in his kitchen, roaming the refridgeration unit for something to drink when a loud noise startled him. Jerking his head out the window, he growled as he saw the large vehicle in front of his house. Most buildings on the Citadel had tubes installed, allowing their garbage to be neatly thrown into a chute, that would then send the waste to a large incineration unit elsewhere in the city. But his house had only been built a few years prior, and he had yet to have them installed.

"Hey assholes! Can't you make those things quieter!?" shouted the human from the window as a krogan looked up from the back of the vehicle. The krogan smirked as the noise from the compacting of the garbage claxxoned across the quiet area of street.

"Good morning to you too Leon." said the reptilian creature as he waved.

The human responded with a rude gesture among humans, though now known to a wide variety of races. The insult only made the krogan laugh as he got back into the cab of the vehicle and shuttled off towards the incineration plant.

Leon snorted, and went back about his buisiness, searching for sustenence before he had to report for duty.

OoOoO

An hour later, Leon walked into his office at C-Sec headquarters in Zekera Ward. Immediately, he was given a message by the VI on his desk.

The holo appeared before him, its form Quarian. He wasn't sure why, but he liked the Quarians. The entire lifestyle of caring what happens to ones people as a whole as opposed to individual achievement had an alluring feel about it. The Quarian that created the VI for him had modeled it after herself, as something to remember her by when she left back to the Fleet.

"Leon, you have a message from Namek. He says he has something important to show you." said the quarian holo.

"Go ahead and send him in Tia." he said. After a minute or so, a Salarian male, about mid-life with dark skin and wide set eyes walked into his office and sat down. "So, I hear you have something for me." he said.

The salarian nodded with a smile. "I do. This was found near the 1400 apartment complex by one of my guys. He said it fell from the sky." said the slender alien as he set a firearm wrapped in plastic on the desk. "I looked up the specs on it, it's..."

"It's a Judgement V, an older pistol made by Batarian State Arms." said the officer as he examined the pistol. "Which means the user was likely involved with some bad people."

"Astute observation as always." said the salarian with a smile. "So, is it good?" he asked animatedly.

Leon examined the weapon for a few seconds longer, then nodded. "Yeah. I'll give you 300 credits for it." he said. The salarians eyes lit up.

"Really? That much?" asked the salarian, delighted to get such a price.

Leon nodded. "As I said, this is of Batarian make. Which means whoever was in possession of this weapon may be linked to any number of illegal activities. And considering the weapon was found on the Citadel, it's likely that whoever owned a Batarian gun is participating in 'illegal business practices' on our very station." he said giving air quotes.

The salarian tilted his head slightly, his expression of curiosity at the human sign language. Leon realized his friends curious look and shook his head. "What else?" asked Namek.

"When people get rid of weapons, they usually wipe them clean. But a lot of times, they forget that their DNA gets more places than just the outside. Though it's likely only a partial, it's still something. So yeah, 300 credits." he said. Pulling a few chits out of his pocket, he handed the currency to the salarian. "So, it fell out of the sky?" he asked.

The alien nodded. "Yes. He said it nearly hit him in the head as he was roaming the area." Leon nodded.

"Alright. Let me know if you find anything else." he said as Namek stood in front of the desk and touched his forehead, then his right shoulder, a sign of respect similar to the bow of the early century humans. After the salarian left the office, another officer entered.

"Still running around with the rags?" asked the turian as he walked into Leon's office, a slight smirk on his face.

Leon simply opened the weapon package and laid it on his desk. Activating his omni tool, he scanned the weapon. A few readings came up in text format, as well as a visual of the dextro-amino DNA on the upper part of the trigger. Finally, after reading all the data that his omni-tool could give him, he looked up at the officer before him.

"Is there something I can do for you Mortalus?" he asked the turian, who smirked.

"Dodging the question huh?" asked the turian officer.

Leon smirked and leaned back in his chair, his blue eyes locked with the aliens predator-like gaze. "You're an idiot." he said bluntly. "Now, was their something else?" he asked with a smirk.

The turian chuckled at the surprisingly simple, but effective comment. "The Inspecter wants to see you." said the officer as he left the room. He stopped briefly outside, then turned back. "And don't forget that we have a new recruit coming soon. It's your turn to babysit!" he said as he shut the door.

Leon chuckled. "A bit primitive, don't you think?" asked Tia from his desktop. Her image could be seen once more from the small cube that sat next to the nameplate.

The detective rose from his chair, a smile still on his face. "Sometimes primitive is the most effective." he said walking towards the door, the weapon in tow. The Quarian VI facepalmed as he left the office.

OoOoO

"You wanted to see me sir?" asked the human as he entered his bosses office.

The turian behind the desk eyed him as he stepped up to the desk. "Detective Leonardo Zechs." said the inspector, seeing the detective flinch at his full first name being used. Leon stood in front of the desk with his arms behind his back, looking at the inspector. The turians nearly black plated skin was covered in white battle tattoos from previous campaigns with the turian military. "I called you in here for the reason of assignment." he said.

Leon nodded. "What did you need me to do?"

The turian shook his head. "You don't have the assignment yet Zechs. This is a very highly classified case." said Inspector Corvus as he leaned forward. "I've seen what you manage to accomplish in your cases, using what you call deductive reasoning and your own seperate network. I have faith that you would do good in this case, but I'm not the one you need to prove yourself to." he said as he reached over to a comm unit on his desk. "Mortalus, send in the judge." said the inspector.

"Judge?" asked Leon curiously. Corvus said nothing as he waited for the new guest to arrive. The 'Judge', as the inspector called him, was a freakishly tall turian of military build. He wore robes of the highest class, as well as a cowl over his spined plated head.

"Judge Jao Thefarus, I'd like you to meet Leon Zechs." said the turian inspector as he watched the two shake hands.

"So, this is the man you spoke about?" asked the turian in a soothing deep voice. Jao turned to the human as the inspector nodded. "So, what's so special about this human?" he asked curiously, his mandibles clicking in interest.

"So Leon, I want you to put your greatest effort into this recent case." said the inspector as he passed a datapad to the human. Leon leaned forward and looked at the data pad, reading over it curiously. As his eyes scanned the case data, the Judge chuckled as he saw the humans eyebrow raise.

"This happened this morning?" asked Leon curiosuly. The inspector nodded. Leon smirked lightly as he placed the data pad on the table. "Do we still have men on the scene?" he asked.

"We do. Johnson and Tork are currently at the scene." said the inspector.

Leon opened his omni-tool and pressed a number of the holographic buttons before a voice rang out loud from the tool. "What's up Leon, I'm kinda busy?" asked the salarian on the other end.

"Mekka, I need you to give me a few details about the case you're currently on." said the human.

"Asking the advice of another officer? I don't think..." said the judge, but he didn't finish as he saw the finger that Corvus was holding up. He crossed his arms and waited, watching Leon intently.

"Uhh...well, the apartment here was being robbed and the asari woman in the room was shot to death." said the salarian. "The turian here claimed to have found her body when he came home. He said that they were a couple."

"Tell me, are there any pictures of them on the wall, or any signs that a couple lived there?" asked Leon.

The salarian in the room looked around the apartment curiously. "Well...no. Why?" The turian seated on the bed of the apartment looked up at the salarian curiously as he perused the apartment.

"Now tell me, was there a gun at the scene?" asked the human.

"You honestly don't expect a thief to shoot someone, then leave the weapon behind do you?" asked Mekka oddly amused.

"No, I mean is there a weapon anywhere in the house?" asked Leon.

"I'm afraid not, we swept the place already. If there were a weapon in here we would have found it by now." responded Mekka.

"Alright. I want you to do one last thing for me. Take a look at the turians comm unit, and tell me what you find." said Leon.

"Leon, we don't have the cause to justify..."

"Just do it Tork!" shouted the inspector. "I've got a judge here if he gives you any problems."

"Oh...yes sir Inspector Corvus. Right then, sir, I need to ask you for your comm unit." said Mekka over the omnitool communicator. It took a few minutes, but finally the salarian responded. "What exactly am I looking for?" he asked.

"Look in the pictures. Tell me what you find there." he said as he smirked.

The salarian fumbled with the comm a bit before responding. "Oh, yes, here we are...oh my..." came the voice over Leon's omni tool.

"What is it?" asked the human.

"It's pictures of the turian with a human woman...very explicit pictures..." said the salarian.

"What does it all mean?" asked the judge curiously.

"Thank you Mekka, do me one last favor and send a DNA profile of the turian to Inspector Corvus' office. Leon out." said the detective as he killed the connection. "Alright, I think I've got it, but bear with me. Until we have evidence, this is all still theory." he said. Both the judge and inspector nodded. "So, we have a turian male in the 1600 apartment complex with a dead asari and a claim that the place was robbed." he said as he sat down in the chair in front of the desk. "The place wasn't robbed. The turian killed her."

"And how do you come up with that?" asked Jao as he pulled the chair out next to Leon and took a seat. Corvus just smirked.

"The turian says that they were a couple, but no pictures in the apartment was rather suspicious of a turian who, in this report, claimed they had been together for the better part of a year." he said referring to the data pad. "If he cared for this woman there should be some sign that they were together, but that seems to not be the case. So, we have a turian claiming that he is coupled with the asari in question, but he doesn't care enough about her to put such things in their living quarters."

"Interesting." said the judge. "Continue."

"The robbery I knew was bullshit from the start. The door to the apartment was electronically locked, and the window shattered to gain access to the apartment. However, any thief willing to rob the 1k apartment complexes would be smart enough to have hacking software of some sort to get inside. It leaves little to no trace and is a lot quieter than smashing through a window. So whoever did this to the window..." he said bringing up the picture on the data pad. "was a blundering idiot. He even smashed the window from the inside, causing the glass to fall on the outside of the building. That narrows it down to one of two people, the asari or the turian."

"But, if he killed her and faked a robbery, why did he do it? And why wasn't there a gun in there?" asked the judge, fascinated at the humans attention to detail.

"The answer to both of your questions is right here." he said as he pulled the plastic coated weapon from the belt mounted magnet on his back. Both the judge and the inspector looked at the weapon as Leon set it on the desk.

"Where did you...?" asked Corvus, unable to even finish the question.

"One of my contacts named Namek brought it to me. He said that it 'fell from the sky' in front of the 1400 apartment complex, just across the street from 1600." said Leon.

"That seems rather convenient..." said the judge cautiously.

"Not if you were to know who my contacts were." he said, getting a curious look from the turian judge. "Even with all its glories, the Citadel isn't perfect, and it can't provide homes for everyone. So a lot of people end up sleeping on the streets and scraping together a living through either illegal or meager means. I find the honest ones who are hard to find luck, and I offer them a reward for anything that might be of interest to C-Sec. That includes valuable information and items of suspicion, and also it's useful for searching." he said. The judge nodded with a smirk.

"I see, that makes sense. So, the gun came from around the crime scene and 'fell from the sky' huh? Well, that certainly puts the turian in suspicious light. But how does that answer the question of why he did it?" asked the judge, his interest piqued.

Leon smiled. "Pretty simple if you look at the model of the gun in question. It's batarian made, meaning that the owner was likely in deep with some pretty shady people. What do you think someone would say if they found a batarian firearm on you?"

"I'd probably be investigated. Although freedom to carry weapons on the Citadel is limited, it's still allowed to a certain extent in the wards. Even though I'm allowed a firearm by right, having a batarian made one would make people ask a lot of questions." said the judge getting a nod from Leon.

"And throw into the mix the explicit pictures on the turians comm, it comes together quite neatly. The turian was involved in a lot of illegal activity. The asari, who knew what he was involved in found the phone and threatened to leave and spread the information around. So he took her out, faked the robbery, and got rid of the gun, thinking that a homeless citizen of the Wards would take such a find to a pawn broker and hock it for a few credits."

The judge clapped slowly as Leon finished the deduction. "You certainly weren't exaggerating Inspector." he said as the Inspectors comm beeped with a new message. Both the human and turian watched as the inspector opened the message and pulled up the DNA mapping of the suspect.

"I assume you asked for this because there was DNA on the weapon?" asked Corvus as he looked over at Leon. The human nodded, and sent the scan findings to the inspector. After a short comparison via his omnitool, he chuckled. Activating his omnitool comm unit, the chief spoke once again to the salarian at the other end. "Tork, go ahead and arrest the turian. We've got all we need to try him." said the inspector.

"You are some piece of work, you know that?" asked the judge.

Leon looked at him curiously as the judge eyed him. "It's not that hard to put together. Anyone with a pair of eyes sees the same things I see." said the human as the turian judge smirked.

"So, what did you think?" asked Corvus as he looked at the judge.

"I think he's just the person I'm looking for." said the judge with a smile.

Leon looked back and forth between the two oddly, wondering what Judge Jao Thefarus had in store for him...


	2. The Hunt

OoO( 2 )OoO

Leon was no longer seated in the inpectors office. He now sat in a much more elaborate, military style decorated office. He looked around the room as he waited for his host to enter. The entire room was set in the old rustic decorative of a military official from Palaven. There were few decorations for decoration sake. The portrait behind the large desk was of a smaller turian than the judge himself, probably a father figure. There was another portrait next to that one, this one smaller. It was of the turian judge and an asari woman, a very young asari woman by their standards. She couldn't have been more than a hundred and fifty.

The only thing that the detective would call a decoration was the bust of the judge himself. But even that seemed to have the purpose of holding enough medals on it's chest to stop a bullet. Leon stared at the bust a moment longer before the doors behind him opened. In walked Judge Jao Thefarus, his former robes now gone and a more simple, military style attire over his plated structure. He had in his hands a tray with various drinks on it, setting it on the desk, then walking around and sitting in the high arched chair.

"I brought us some refreshments. It may take a while to explain everything to you." said the turian as he sat back in the chair. "Oh, be sure to stay away from the red liquid, that's for me. It does...nasty things to humans." he said.

The detective leaned forward and grabbed a glass bottle labeled 'Mango Juice', and poured some into a glass. The judge smiled as Leon leaned back. "I prefer not to delute myself." said the human as he took a sip from the glass.

"That's good." said the judge. "Now then, shall we get down to business?" he asked.

"Are you recording us?" asked the human, getting a surprised look from the judge. He pointed to the bust with the hand that was holding the glass of orange substance. The turian looked at the bust and smirked.

"You certainly are clever." said the turian. "No, I'm not recording us. That camera is for other purposes." he said. "Now, let us proceed."

"Who did it?" asked the human as he looked around the office.

The judge sat back in surprise. "Did what?"

Leon smiled. "My apologies, I sometimes get ahead of myself." he said as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes covered with the logo 'Blizzard'. Holding them up as an offer, he took one out and lit it as the judge shook his head. "You are a judge Mr. Thefarus. A very high ranking judge. You don't come to C-Sec to get a problem solved. You'd normally go to the Council and requisition for their help." said the human as he puffed on the Blizz cigarette. The judge nodded.

"Now, that tells me you can't go to the Council. But why? Well, there's really only one answer to that. And that is that the sessions with the Council, even for judges like yourself, are viewable by the public. So whatever you need help with, you don't want to get out. That means it could either be illegal, or you don't want someone specific to hear you asking for help. If it were illegal, I doubt you'd go to either the Council or C-Sec. So then that narrows that down." he said as he leaned forward, two jets of smoke pouring from his nostrils.

"You..." said the judge, a look of nervousness on his face. "You are certainly outstanding at your job."

Leon nodded. "So, why wouldn't a judge of such prestige want his plea for aid known to the public? And why come to your old friend Corvus at C-Sec? It's because the matter hits very close to your heart and you are unsure of what to do. You know the inspector can keep your secret and won't let the information get out. As for the your plea, you don't want it known to the public because if a certain someone was to find out, then your plea would be for nought. Which tells me something is being held hostage. Possibly for ransom, or considering your position, more political favors." said Leon before he took another drink. "That leaves one of two things. You can't go to the Council because whatever was taken hostage was either shameful to your image, or priceless to you. The former being unlikely given your record in the turian military." said the human, pointing to the bust with all the awards on it.

The turian looked at the bust again, then back at the detective. Taking the bottle of red liquid from the tray, he opened it and ignored the glass, chugging the liquid straight from the bottle. "Continue."

Leon nodded. "Given the state of your office, and your military history, you are unlikely to harbor enough value in an object, at least enough to approach us with such secrecy. So that leaves family." he said, finishing the glass off and putting the cigarette out in it. "Your father has likely passed away, given the age of that painting and his age in the painting. So that can't be it. Now, the asari there in that portrait..." he said nodding to the painting on the left. "She's obviously important, but unlikely a wife given her age compared to yours. So that likely makes her your daughter." Leon smiled again as he leaned back. "Mr. Thefarus, your daughter has been kidnapped, likely for a political 'agreement', and I ask you again. Who did it?" he asked.

The turian judge began to clap again, laughing loudly. Leaning forward, Jao pointed to the human. "What the hell are you doing working for C-Sec?" asked the judge. Leon shrugged with a smirk. "As for who did it, the only thing I have are their demands. Though from what they're requesting, it's likely the Red Star, a new thug group that popped up recently. In a few days, I have to oversee the trial of the leader of this gang on charges of first degree murder, drug and slave trafficking, and extortion. Considering the gang has only been around for about six months, that's an extremely long laundry list."

Leon nodded. "Alright, what do I have to go on?" he asked.

"She was taken from her apartment. The entire place was wrecked, but given your skills that shouldn't be a huge problem." said the judge as he finished off the rosey liquor. "Otherwise, I've been able to find no trace of who her attackers were, or where they went." The human stood to his feet and turned towards the door.

"I've got some work to do then. Please send the address and any information you have to my omni-tool." he finished, then opened the door to the office and left.

The judge sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He mulled the conversation around in his head for a moment before shaking it and standing himself, a small smile on his face.

OoOoO

As the detective opened the door to the apartment, he immediately saw the struggle that had happened. A lot of stuff in the place was wrecked. The tables were flipped, the large vid screen in the center of the main room was shattered, and there was even a chair embedded in the wall near the small kitchenette attached to the main room.

Leon walked into the room and immediately his eyes began to scan the area. Despite the struggle here, there was little to go on. The floor was carpeted, not allowing for footprints. He didn't notice any shots fired in the room, and continued down the hall to the next few rooms. He immediately began to feel the weight from earlier that morning settling on his shoulders now. He walked past the trash chute in the hallway and into the next room, seemingly her bedroom. Looking around the area, he noticed that the fight had started in this area. Looking at the carpet, he saw some of it was brushed against the grain, likely the result of someone being slammed against the ground.

Walking towards the bed, he looked at the desk against the wall. The terminal on the desk had been smashed by a blunt force. "Taking every stop not to get caught." he said to himself as he mused at the force used to smash such a fragile object. Then something occured to him. He immediately began looking around the room, on and in the desk, under the bed, everywhere. But to no avail.

"If they saw her comm on her, they would have smashed it too. But it's nowhere to be found." he said as he activated his omni-tool. He punched in a few numbers and waited until the voice of the turian judge rang out.

"Jao here. Is that you Leon?" asked the turian.

"Yes. Did your daughter have a comm?" he asked curiously.

"Of course. She would always send me messages to make sure I was alright. Why?" he asked curiously.

"The computer terminal in her room was destroyed, meaning that the kidnappers didn't want to risk getting caught by recording software incase she had it set up for them. But her comm is nowhere to be found." said the detective as he continued looking around. "I need you to call her comm. Maybe she had it somewhere they couldn't find it." he said.

"Right. One second." said the judge as he proceeded to dial the comm unit. Almost immediately, Leon heard a chime coming from the living area. Walking into the room, he moved towards the center of the room. Immediately, the detective noticed four small indentions in the carpet. Smiling, he looked up at the small chandelier hanging in the center of the room. It was nothing elaborate, but likely just another light source for the large room. Reaching up, he pulled a small palm-sized object from on top of the light fixture.

"Got it." he said with a smile. "I'll call you back with any new information." he said disconnecting the call. Taking the comm, he activated it, he immediately noticed '1 New Message' flashing on the screen. Closing his eyes, he hit the 'Play Message' flashing indicator.

OoOoO

"There's a strange truck outside. Men are coming out of the vehicle. They don't look like the type that live here." said the asari as she gazed out her bedroom window, her comm held near her face. She moved into the living area of her apartment and proceeded to look out the window. "The truck isn't moving." she said, then turned as she heard loud pounding up the stairs outside her room.

"They're on the stairs..." she said immediately, then ran to the table. Grabbing a chair, she set it in the center of the room and stepped onto it, placing the comm device on the chandelier out of sight. Getting down again, she ran into the room, leaving the chair where it was and began typing on her terminal. A chill went down her spine as she heard the voice behind her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." said the voice. She stood and turned to face the intruder. Not giving him time to react, she lifted her arm and a wave of blue energy crashed against him, hurling him into the wall and dropping him like a stone. She ran out of the room and into the hallway where two more confronted her. After throwing them both backwards with her biotic energy, she was confronted by an astonishing sight.

"I'm going to have to ask you to come quietly ma'am." said a large krogan that stood in the doorway to her apartment. His weapon was raised and aimed directly at her. She knew that if she moved, he would fire, and she wouldn't have enough time to react before she was killed.

Glaring at the reptilian behemoth, she raised her hands. "So, some new gang in town I guess?" she asked curiously.

The krogan shrugged with a smirk. "Wouldn't know ma'am, I'm just hired help." he said. "Now, down on your knees and put your hands behind your head. And if I see you flinch the wrong way, I'll blow that pretty little face off."

"I'd still look better than you." she said smirking. The krogan chuckled.

"You'd be surprised. This scar attracts quite a number of ladies." said the krogan non-chalantly.

"Lay your hands on my and I'll put a scar across the right eye too." said the asari woman with a growl. The krogan chuckled again, then walked behind her. "And you'd do better to dress in something more than red merc armor. And I have to say, the gear insignia isn't that impressive." she said. She said no more though as the butt of the krogans shotgun knocked her senseless.

"She was on her terminal when we got to the room. What should we do?" asked one of the other mercs.

"Destroy the computer. She might have been trying to send a message, or even record something about us. Leave no trace of who we are." said the krogan as he reached for the asari. She immediately thrust her hand forward and sent him flying down the hall and into her room. Whipping around, she grabbed the chair with her biotics to throw at the two remaining mercs, but her aim was thrown off when one of them grabbed her. The chair stuck legs first into the wall and the merc slammed his fist across her jaw. She fell to the ground, her vision blurred from the assault.

"Stupid bitch..." said the human as he stepped on her back and forced her to the ground. Taking his shotgun, he placed it on the back of her neck. "Move again and I'll evaporate that pretty head from your body." The krogan walked back from the room after he recovered, then slammed the human in the back of his head with the shotgun.

"Don't hit her in the face you idiot. We lost ground if she's damaged." he said as he pulled out a small gun-like device. Pressing it to her azure skin, he pulled the trigger, plunging a sedative into her system. "Now, let's get out of here. We've been here too long already." he finished.

OoOoO

Leon opened his eyes as the sound in the message ended. Shutting the comm down, he smirked. "Clever girl." he said as he slid the now silent comm into one of his plastic bags and sealing it. "Krogan, scar across the left eye, red merc armor with a gear insignia." he repeated back to himself. Pulling up his omnitool, he activated the database access program. "Tia, look through the database and find me a gang insignia."

"What exactly am I looking for?" asked the VI through his omnitool.

"It's a gear, that's about all I can give you on it." said the human.

The quarian VI began scanning through the large database of different insignias of different gangs, both on and off the Citadel. In the mean time, Leon walked toward the door and exited the apartment. He took the stairs down to the bottom floor, looking for any clue left behind on the stairs by the mercs. He scanned the rails on the sides for DNA or fingerprints, however the enormous amount of results made him give up on that lead.

He exited the building and looked around. His eyes locked onto a building across the street with the name 'BVNN Accounting Services'. Smiling, he walked towards the structure.

OoOoO

"I apologize for the wait Mr. Zechs... I was in the middle of an important...conference call." said the creature as it entered the room. Leon turned to the volus with a smile.

"It's no problem." said the human as the volus waved for him to take a seat. Sitting down, Leon waited until the small trundling alien took his seat at a small desk across from him before he talked again.

"Your name is Barla Von, correct?" he asked.

The volus nodded. "Forgive me if I seem a bit...reserved. It's highly irregular for...C-Sec to request my services..." said Barla as he brought up his terminal, his speech interrupted by the constant gasping sound of the breathing mechanism of his exo-suit.

"Actually, it's not that kind of information I'm looking for." said Leon as he leaned forward.

The volus looked over at him curiously. "You know of my...connections, but you require...specific other services?" he asked. Leon nodded. "I see...well then officer...what can I do for you?"

"Well, I was hoping you could supply me with a video feed from one of your cameras." said the human as he leaned back in the chair. The volus said nothing for a moment as he analyzed the human. "I would know about the cameras, because someone of your 'trade' has to protect himself. You've had break-ins before, no doubt people looking for the information you sell."

"You are certainly...an observant Earth-clan Mr. Zechs." said the volus as he activated the omnitool on his stubby arm. "What exactly are...you looking for?"

"Yesterday morning, an asari was kidnapped from the complex across the street. I was hoping you could provide me with the video feed for any cameras aiming in the direction of the front door."

The volus nodded and brought up the camera in question on the device. "Unfortunately...I only have the one that gets any...kind of view towards the door." he said. Leon held his omnitool up and Barla sent the file to him. Almost as soon as the transfer was complete, Tia appeared on his omnitool.

"Leon, I can't find anything in the database matching the insignia you gave me." she responded. Leon sighed to himself, thinking about it.

"Perhaps I could...be of further service?" asked the volus.

The human looked at him and nodded. "I'm looking for a gang insignia, all I can get from the description is that it's a gear." he said.

Barla Von nodded and opened his terminal. After a quick search, he turned back to Leon. "I'm afraid you won't...find it in your database." he said, getting an agitated look from the human. "It's not a gang symbol... it's a corporate insignia."

Leon turned to the volus with a curious look. "A corporate insignia? You mean like a company icon?" he asked, getting a nod from the accountant. Leon slapped his forehead at the realization.

"I'm sure that'll help." said the quarian VI as she vanished from the omnitools luminescent screen.

Barla Von chuckled before turning back to his terminal. "The insignia you spoke of...belongs to a scrapping company...by the name of Kurgosh's Scrap Shop...They're a small place that sells ship scraps...and parts." he said reading further into the file. "It seems they've had...some run ins with C-Sec before..." he said.

Tia immediately brought up the data on the company in C-Sec's files. "Seems some of them have been investigated for obtaining parts illegally." he said as he perused the files. "Sounds like the ones I'm looking for." he said as he stood up. "Thank you for the video, and the information." said Leon as he turned to leave.

"I do hope you...find her." said the volus, causing Leon to stop at the door. The human turned back to the exo-suited alien curiously. "You are very good...at your job detective." he said amusedly. "As am I. I just hope...for her sake, that you...find Ms. Thefarus in time." he said as he turned back to his terminal.

Leon nodded, then walked out the door.


End file.
